Business banking moves into mobile

Business clients, particularly corporates, have been much slower to adopt the latest technology and move their banking online. Photo: Reuters

Sally Rose

The retail trend for individuals to move their personal banking online has been strong but business clients, particularly corporate clients, have been much slower to adopt the technology.

Now a growing preference among senior executives for BYO devices is driving demand. “They don’t understand why business banking should be any less convenient than personal banking” says HSBC head of payments and cash management, Allan Dueck.

Dueck says HSBC’s mobile business banking platform has been successful in attracting transactional clients. He thinks it appeals to finance managers because as their roles have evolved from a focus on reporting to having a stronger influence on management they are travelling more.

“CFOs and treasurers are constantly looking for ways to be more mobile, but there is no avoiding they are tied to the payment flow of any business and they can’t step away from that” he says.

Imdex is an ASX-listed company that supplies industrial drilling equipment to mining, oil, gas, and water well companies globally.

In the financial year 2011 it turned over $200 million and the consensus this year is for a result around $270 million. It has been in a phase of international expansion since 2006, through a combination of organic growth and more than 14 acquisitions over the last five years.

As the business grew it recognised the need for a more global banking partner and just over 12 months ago it brought HSBC in to a club facility with its long-time banking partner Westpac.

Chief financial officer Paul Evans says the company gets the majority of its funding from the two banks.

“At a transactional level Imdex is moving away from Westpac in Australia and moving to HSBC. In Africa the company is moving to Standard Bank and HSBC as is it is more global” says Evans.

The CFO’s travel is mostly to major cities where the head offices are located for each regional hub but the finance managers have to travel to more remote locales.

“The ability to interact with people in their own time zones is very important” says Evans.

But a mobile banking platform is just one element of a more mobile finance team.

Evans is currently looking at outsourcing a global customer relationship management program.

He says it is difficult to measure the value derived from spending on IT infrastructure because the saving really arrives through increased efficiency and improved service but that he will only spend the money if he can see a return on investment within three years.